Audio 3:32
Concern for migrants as unemployment rate rises

Simon LauderUpdated
Sat 17 Aug 2013, 9:19 AM AEST

Fresh data shows the unemployment rate in some ethnic communities is much higher than the norm. A group which represents ethnic communities is worried the employment gap will widen further as the unemployment rate creeps up.

Transcript

ELIZABETH JACKSON: With Australia's unemployment rate expected to start climbing, there's particular concern for a group which is over-represented in the job queue.

Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows people born in non-English-speaking countries have a much higher unemployment rate than the standard rate.

A group representing ethnic communities in Australia is worried the gap will get wider as times get tougher.

From Melbourne, Simon Lauder reports.

SIMON LAUDER: The latest monthly figures show Australia's unemployment rate is 5.7 per cent, but the only thing stopping it going higher is that more people have given up looking for work.

The Government predicts the unemployment rate will rise to 6.25 per cent this financial year. The chairperson of the Federation for Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia, Pino Migliorino, says he's worried people from non-English-speaking countries will be disproportionately affected.

PINO MIGLIORINO: You could bet your money on that one. I think the reality is where is it going to come? It's going to come from manufacturing, where they are predominantly migrant workers

And as soon as you are actually going to get an economic downturn, it's going to have a disproportionate effect on ethnic communities.

SIMON LAUDER: The Federation analysed new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, breaking down the unemployment figures based on where people were born.

The raw data puts Australia's unemployment rate at 5.4 per cent, but shows 9.2 per cent of people born in North Africa and the Middle East are unemployed. For those born in South-east Asia, the unemployment figure is 6.3 per cent.

PINO MIGLIORINO: The implication for us is then there's going to be a greater burden on potentially our social security payment systems, in terms of what that actually means. I do worry about some of the social consequences that might come up when it becomes more specific, that the disproportionate effect of a lowering economy is going to be on migrant workers?

SIMON LAUDER: And what about that with the combination of the youth unemployment rate, which is even higher?

PINO MIGLIORINO: Well my concern is that we're actually losing potential in the first instance. I think the second concern is that we're creating a group of people who will have more time on their hands than they necessarily need.

Are there going to be any social consequences around that? Insomuch as we need to engage our young people so they're as productive as possible, I actually think it is a priority. I would certainly focus on that group in any employment stimulation programme.

SIMON LAUDER: Cath Scarth is the CEO of refugee and migrant settlement service, AMES (Adult Multicultural Education Services). Ms Scarth says migrants face a range of barriers that people born in Australia don't, including language difficulties, unrecognised qualifications, unfamiliar workplaces and job application processes and a lack of networks and contacts.

She says people who come here as refugees seem to struggle more, including those who have skills and qualifications.

CATH SCARTH: It tends to be those groups who are more newly arrived as groups. And it's probably something that the Vietnamese went through and so on, but as they've established themselves, they now have businesses that they can employ, whereas the newer groups tend to be the ones who struggle.

SIMON LAUDER: Pino Migliorino says more needs to be done to make sure more migrants are employed.

PINO MIGLIORINO: The wrong assumption would be migrants are not employable. That's absolutely wrong. What we need to appreciate is that we might need to actually look at a series of interventions to make sure that we can get the best out of them as we can.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That's the chairperson of the Federation for Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia, Pino Migliorino, ending that report from Simon Lauder.